Personal Branding: Reinvent how you express yourself

We don’t have to change what we do to reinvent ourselves. Sometimes all we need to do is to talk about what we do in a different way. This alone can help us to reinvigorate relationships and perceptions. Re-engaging with others like this can bring about new conversations and insights. And new conversations and insights might lead to new opportunities.

Here are some practical ways that you can begin to change how you express yourself.

Give yourself a new job title

There was a great article on Inc.com encouraging business leaders to let employees pick their own job titles. I love this idea and would encourage it wholeheartedly. But even if you’re not in charge of such decisions, it can be useful to consider your own job title and how you might change it. Doing so forces you to really consider what it is that you actually do and what value you really add. Looking at our roles in this way can be enough to reinvigorate our enthusiasm and motivation for what we do as we reconnect with why we’re doing it.

Change your bio

Your bio is something that needs to be regularly updated just for the simple fact that time passes and hopefully in the time that has passed since you wrote your bio, you’ve done some more great stuff that’s worth sharing.

If you’re re-writing your bio, it’s worth taking your time to craft a good one. If you have your own website, the likelihood is that your about page is the most visited page on your site. Your bio is important so don’t rush it. Tips for writing a great bio include

– If it’s on your personal site, write it in the first person. If it appears on a company site, then third person is better.

– Use storytelling to engage on an emotional level and create interest.

– Include aspects of your personal life; your passions, hobbies or reveal your inner geek. It’s these things that people will connect with.

– Have more than one. Whether it’s long and short ones, or different bios for different audiences you engage with (investors, employees, industry peers, conference attendees etc),

Update your elevator pitch

How long have you been using your elevator pitch or your personal introductory pitch? Personal pitches need to evolve as much as we do. Maybe what we do hasn’t changed, but who we do it for might have. Or the context in which we do it has, or maybe the reason why we’re doing it has. A shift in any of these should force you to consider evolving your pitch and make it more relevant.

If you choose to change how you express what you do, it’s important to ensure that you make changes everywhere. So ensure that your LinkedIn profile is changed as well as your twitter bio. The last thing you want to do is to send out a mixed message as this will confuse people and dilute your potential impact.